I have always wanted to visit a NASA facility and missed the chance when in Florida.The weather forecast was 90% chance of rain and we have been getting storms every afternoon so off to Walmart and purchased the $5 umbrellas and $5 poncho. At the entrance to the Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre there are two T-38 Talons set up to look like the are shooting into the sky. You would recognise these planes from Top Gun. They were used as enemy planes in the movie. These impressive planes were first introduced in the 60s and are still in use with NASA today. As we parked the first thing you see is the massive piggy backing 747 with the test shuttle independence on its back. We got to the ticket booth about 9.30 and it's a good thing we did. We originally tried to purchase our tickets online as recommended but it kept throwing up errors. Kinda surprising but it seems it cannot handle online bookings with international addresses and credit cards. There was only about 20 people there when we purchased our tickets and lined up for the 10am opening but by the time it opened and I looked back there was 300 odd people lined up. As soon as we entered we rushed straight to the trolley bus tour that took us over to Mission Control. This is the control site you have seen on TV that was mission control for all Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle Missions. This mission control is not used any more and there is a new one the floor below. They have televisions up in the wall that show live feeds from the Orion Mission Control (one floor below and so called because that is the name of the mission to Mars project) which is currently controlling the space station and a live feed from the space station looking down to earth. The original mission control has been left exactly as it was for the Apollo 11 mission. There is a US flag in the corner that was taken to the moon twice, planted in the soil then brought back. It was a great trip back in time. The trolley bus then took us over to the shed housing a full Saturn V rocket with all stages slightly separated for effect. Apparently this was originally just sitting out in the weather but it was starting to erode so a lot of effort was put into repairing it and protecting it from the weather. Apparently this is one of only 3 on public display. It is massive. Photos probably don't go it justice. Got the trolley bus back to the main building and headed to the piggy backing 747. You can walk up flights of stairs and go inside the shuttle, first to the cockpit then looking down in the cargo bay. They have a mock satellite in there to show you how cargo is locked down. Inside the 747 itself there are videos and displays on how the 747 piggy back was thought of and came about. The site was starting to get really busy with lots of kids rushing around so nearly time to bail. As we walked away from the 747 we came across what looked like a long gangway. It is the Orbiter Access Arm which connects the launch tower to the space shuttle. This arm was used on over 50 missions. We wandered around inside the main building and there was various displays and mock ups. One I was impressed with was the full sized module of Skylab. You will see in the photos what looks like a bloke curled up in a ball. It is a mannequin constantly rotating like in zero gravity. I have to say the manequin was extremely life like. We checked out the display of space suits then decided it was time to get out of there. The car park to this place is massive, probably the size of dreamworld. There were only 5 or ten cars when we got there and now 1/2 to 3/4 full. We headed over to Kemah which is on the shore of Trinity Bay just north of Texas City and Galveston. Kemah was recommended by a friend to feed and pat the stingrays (which we didn't get to do) and had a big Boardwalk which looks predominately for kids rides. It was packed (note to self do no visit these places on weekends). The roller coaster is completely made out of timber, looks like it would be an arsonists heaven. We had a seafood lunch in the boardwalk and I had a seafood gumbo. It was ok but nothing to rave about. I kept hearing about them on TV and had to try one. The seagulls were deadly, if you didn't watch your food closely they would land on your table and steal your food. The people at the table next to us got up and left and within 5 seconds the seagulls had descended on the leftovers. For dinner we wandered across the road from the hotel to BJ's Brewhouse for dinner. From the outside looks just like another diner, but inside was very impressive, good service, nice beers and good food. I had my first Baby back pork spare ribs since arriving in the US, and it won't be my last. Early night as we are heading to New Orleans (NOLA for short) in the morning.